Two weeks ago, JetBlue Flight 387 touched down in central Cuba, and cheers broke out among the passengers and staff. It was the first American commercial airliner to land in the country in more than 50 years.

The event follows a landmark Department of Transportation ruling earlier this summer. A handful of U.S. airlines are getting routes to Cuba.

[ad#Google Adsense 336×280-IA]Back in March, our Chief Income Strategist Marc Lichtenfeld wrote an article about the state of Cuba’s economy.

He noted that the Castro regime has been easing its restrictions on private businesses.

But it’s still a long way from reopening the Havana Stock Exchange.

Cuba isn’t ready for American direct investment yet. In fact, that’s still banned under the embargo.

But there is one investment opportunity that we can use to profit indirectly from the thawing of relations with the U.S.:

Publicly traded airlines with flights to Cuba.

Regardless of your opinion of Castro’s socialist regime, one thing is beyond debate. Lots of Americans want to visit Cuba. We can’t resist our neighborly curiosity. The country has been harder to reach than North Korea for half a century. And it’s the home of salsa music and the world’s best rum and cigars.

Below, we’ll look at a couple airlines that are poised to make lots of money on flights to Cuba. As you’ll see, you could make a hefty return on this new destination as well.

As we mentioned earlier, the first airline to make the trip was JetBlue Airways (Nasdaq: JBLU). The low-cost carrier was awarded four daily flights to Havana from three destinations. But it doesn’t have the most routes. American Airlines (Nasdaq: AAL) won on that count. But JetBlue offers flights to Cuba from more U.S. cities than any other carrier. That puts it in a unique position to profit.

As you can see, JetBlue’s stock has been a bit depressed over the last year. It missed some quarterly earnings expectations in 2015, and a small drop snowballed into a sell-off. However, it has beaten expectations for the last four quarters running. Investors who buy low should see impressive returns once JetBlue’s flights to Cuba help the stock recover.

Another underdog airline that is poised to profit from tourism to Cuba is Alaska Air Group (NYSE: ALK). The small, Pacific Northwest-focused airline is the only one with a West Coast route to the Cuban capital.

Financially, it’s in a similar situation as JetBlue. It’s seen a couple sharp drops over the last two years. But it has recovered more than half of the lost price. And favorable earnings for the last four quarters should soon put this small carrier back in the air.

We’re still generations away from completely ending the embargo of Cuba. But the end of the travel ban has piqued the interest of Cuba’s northern neighbor. In the next few years, American tourists will start to pour into the Caribbean island. And that’s a big opportunity for investors with the foresight to buy into the planes that’ll take them there.

— Samuel Taube

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Source: Investment U